On Elysium, the Land of Chaos was often compared to a hurricane for all its violence and chaos. Like a hurricane, however, it was calm at its centre.
The gods in the Land of Chaos also needed to trade goods and conduct business. But most of the Fringe was simply too chaotic or unsafe to do so. Even the simplest trade could hardly be carried out.
Thus the Omphalos was born - a city in the centre of the Fringe. It was run jointly by the most powerful forces in the Fringe - the Five Sovereigns. Every god within the Omphalos would obey the orders of the Five Sovereigns not to fight, not to kill, and not to steal.
The gods who, for whatever reason, cannot live on any of the Twelve Dominions can live a very comfortable and carefree life in the Omphalos, provided they have a large amount of Black Crystal Coins and can make it past the godhunters and criminals of the Fringe. No matter how chaotic and catastrophic things became on the outside, the Omphalos would remain completely calm and unaffected. All friction and conflict between the Five Sovereigns would remain outside the Omphalos.
Many of the brigands and bandits would bring their plunder to the Omphalos to sell, for it may be the only place in the Land of Chaos where people don't try to rob and murder each other. After all, no one dared to offend the Five Sovereigns. But that would only be true while they were in the Omphalos. As soon as they left the Omphalos, they were on their own.
In other words, even if they managed to sell their valuable goods inside the Omphalos, they would still be vulnerable to being robbed or murdered as soon as they stepped outside.
Inside, money was all that mattered. Outside, only strength mattered!
The Omphalos was a unique place in the Chaotic Land for everyone, and everyone's safety was guaranteed. But this temporary safety came at a high price - anyone wishing to enter the Omphalos had to pay a large sum of black crystal coins as an entrance fee. The longer they stayed, the more they had to pay.
The Five Sovereigns had established this safe zone in the Fringe not only because there was a need for such a place, but also because it would provide them with a constant and enormous stream of black crystal coins.
Han Shuo and his party travelled directly to the Omphalos. Eight days later, they finally arrived at their destination.
During those eight days, Han Shuo encountered a dozen or more battles of varying sizes. Some involved only two or three participants, while others involved several hundred experts. There were five or six groups that attacked Han Shuo and his party, but they were easily slaughtered by Han Hao and Rose.
Han Shuo understood the fringe even better during those eight days. In this region, where the most heinous criminals of the Twelve Dominions gathered, morality and ethics were basically non-existent. The strong preyed on the weak and life had little or no value.
Many criminals would travel across Elysium just to live in the Fringe. But before they could go any deeper, most of them were murdered by gods who had lived in the Fringe. After entering the Fringe, gods with relatively weak strength would either have to submit to a powerhouse or spend vast amounts of black crystal coins living in the Omphalos to keep themselves alive.
Han Shuo felt like a tiger released from captivity into the wild forests. He would destroy any group he encountered on his journey to the Omphalos. In those eight days, more than two hundred gods fell to Han Shuo and his party. Among them were ten Highgods!
The Fringe may be a nightmarish land to most people. But to Han Shuo, it was the most wonderful place on Elysium, where he could rapidly increase his strength. Han Shuo's base strength grew in parallel with the number of demon generals within the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon . He could sense a small but significant change in the Cauldron with every Highgod soul he collected.
While waiting outside one of the gates to the Omphalos, Han Shuo noticed that it was only slightly smaller than the Ethereal City. Its vast territory was shrouded in a light mist. From a distance, he could see that the buildings were rather scattered and that there was a lot of high traffic of gods. Most of these gods had cold and ferocious looks.
There were five checkpoints in the Omphalos, one for each of the sovereigns. Han Shuo and his group entered through the checkpoint controlled by Wasir's men. These gods had cold and sinister eyes. Their glances at those entering were filled with greed, as if they wanted to take everyone's money.
They did not check the divine tablets of those entering, nor did they ask about the purpose of their journey - all they asked for was a hundred black crystal coins from each person. And if Han Shuo and his party wanted to stay longer than one day, they must pay one hundred black crystal coins for every extra day. After paying eight hundred black crystal coins, Han Shuo and his party officially stepped into the Omphalos.
In most cities of the Twelve Dominions, one would only need to pay no more than a few purple crystal coins per entry. The price that the Omphalos charged was hundreds or thousands of times greater than an average city for the stay duration of just one day.
Even if there were less than five thousand gods present in the Omphalos each day, that would mean an income of five hundred thousand black crystal coins in a day. Now imagine collecting that amount every day over the course of decades.
What an astronomical number! No wonder the Sovereigns would bother working together and manage the Omphalos! thought Han Shuo. Even though his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was generating him a sizable amount of black crystal coins, Han Shuo was astonished when he estimated the amount of black crystal coins the Omphalos produced.
Death and murder exist in every corner of the Fringe. Those gods with puny strength but a large amount of Black Crystal Coins would live in the Omphalos in order to survive. They did not mind burning black crystal coins to preserve their lives. As a result, the Omphalos became one of Elysium's greatest sources of income.
"Father, if we could control the Omphalos, we would never have to worry about the Black Crystal Coins again!" Han Hao said quietly to Han Shuo shortly after they entered the city.
The city was not particularly well defended, but it was filled with frequently patrolling troops from the Five Sovereigns. They were responsible for maintaining order in the Omphalos and acting as tax collectors. Those who paid their dues were given a small glowing badge to wear on their chest while within the Omphalos. After a day, the badge would stop glowing, signalling that the person's stay in the Omphalos was over. It must be refilled with a special energy to keep it glowing.
If the troops of the Five Sovereigns found a person whose badge did not glow, they would immediately demand black crystal coins from the person to relight it. And if the person was unwilling or unable to pay enough black crystal coins, they would be mercilessly kicked them out of the Omphalos and not allowed back in until they paid the required amount of crystal coins.
Han Shuo touched the small badge on his chest and released a strand of his consciousness to surreptitiously probe the energy within. However, the energy contained within the badge seemed to have self-awareness. Before Han Shuo's consciousness had touched the badge, he felt a caution from the strand of energy.
Han Shuo was shocked. He immediately knew that the small badge must have contained a strand of Overgod's consciousness. It was similar to the bizarre, self-conscious energy of destruction that had wreaked havoc on Erebus and Han Shuo's body earlier. Although Han Shuo could easily annihilate this strand of self-conscious energy, doing so would immediately alert its creator. By then, Han Shuo and his group might be facing an angry sovereign and might even risk starting a war.
For the moment, Han Shuo had no intention of declaring war on any of the Five Sovereigns, at least not when he didn't know much about the Fringe. He withdrew the strand of consciousness and quietly instructed Han Hao and the others, "Do not touch the energy in the badge.
After a moment of observation, Han Shuo discovered that the Omphalos wasn't all that different from most cities in the Twelve Dominions. There were streets, blocks, shops and gymnasiums like any other city - but they were much, much more expensive. Stalls were very common. They were almost everywhere. Most of them sold goods looted from others. They can be purchased with black crystal coins or bartered. pawnshops were also popular with powerful bandits in the fringe, such as kage.
there was also a special profession found in the omphalos - security contractors. it was similar to being a bodyguard or a mercenary. everyone knew that the land of chaos was chaotic. the chances of being killed while travelling in the fringe were simply too great.
most of the security contractors were henchmen closely associated with one of the five sovereigns. they offer protection to the contractors by using their relative security due to their close association with a sovereign. a second, less common type of contactor were those with very powerful powers. it was only under the protection of such powers that one with little strength and no connection would dare to step outside the omphalos.
and, of course, the prices for their services were often absurdly high, running into tens of thousands of black crystal coins. however, there were plenty of people who were willing to pay those prices to stay alive. otherwise, they might be murdered as soon as they stepped outside the omphalos.
after strolling around for some time, han shuo came to understand the omphalos better. he arrived at a conclusion: in order to live comfortably in the fringe, one must have great strength or a large amount of black crystal coins. otherwise, only death awaits.
"I like this place!" remarked Han Hao softly in a smirk after they toured around the city.
rose, who was walking beside him, was taken aback. she looked at Han Hao and thought, this guy sure is like his father – eccentric and unfathomable!
"Hey! isn't that rose? haha, how dare you show your face here!" a peal of very unpleasant laughter suddenly sounded from a distance. an ugly, bald, old woman who was all skin and bones flew towards them.